The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1887-12-01

seen them dart away, c1eaving the W0tof
like an arrow, and travellne several hun-
dred feet before they again entered H.
These were small specimens not
over elk or eight inches in length,
but In the South Pactflo they aro
found three or four times - large,
and In this case their leaping powsr
becomes dangerous habit 70 the natives.
The officers Of the British exploring ship
Challenger were told by the natives that
individuals had been killed BY them;
the fishes becoming alarmed and darting
away over the water, blindly striking .
man and impaling him - with an arrow.
Such an occurrence was considered be-
yond the bounds Of reason, but ONE day,
as boat YVES being rowed ashore, flsh,
alarmed by another boat, darted out Of
the water and struck an officer fairly
In the head, nearly stunning him. The
besk Of the fish hit the brass ornament
upon the cap, and thus q serious II not
fatal wound was prevented. II Wa
found later that the natives in collecting
coral were often wounded and indeed
sometimes killed by them.
As regards activity In leaping the
salmon 10 remarkable, making perpen-
dicular leaps Of considerable height In
its attempts to reach high water. In the
rivers Of our great Northwestern coul-
try the finest displays Of It's powers are
seen. Here at times these fishes mass
into the mouths of rivers in such NUM-
bers that It has been said that . plank
could be laid over their backs and used
% q bridge. This sounds like . nah
story in more senses than one, yet 1t has
been done In Russian river, where the
sturgeon fairly packed the stream and
wedged themselves in, IN Q solid mass.
One Of the most agile fish out Of the
water is the famous tarpon, or the silver
king Of southern waters. Until within .
few years the fish has been comparatively
unknown to sportsmen; but now It
constitutes an attraction that draws
many lovers of the rod and fly to the
region of Tampa and beyond every
winte,. The tarpon IL without doubt
the most magnificent of fishes. Ad-
iectiyes would have to be invented to
convey an adequate idea Of its beauties
as it rises from the water and shakes its
massive jaw, and quivers in the
tillatfng silver. Imagine fish eight
shape herring, with scales as large as
ance of having been covered with molten
silver, and some idea Of the appearance
of this superb creature may be realized.
In the st. Johns river one Of these fishes
has been known to leap upon the deck
of q steamer, not the first deck, but high
up to the pilot-house, landing partly In
the lap of gentleman who was sitting
in q chair. On another occasion one was
seen to leap over boat that was towing
behind.
An extraordinary instance Of leaping
was observed by friend of the writer
in Florida river few years ago. His
yacht was headed up small river that
gradually narrowed as 1t proceeded.
Shortly It became evident that q school
Of fish was being driven before them,
and some individuals began to leave the
water. At first they would clear two or
three feet, but becoming more and
more alarmed, they made greater
exertions, and in a few moments the
yacht was literally bombarded with
pompinoes. They left the water in twos
and threes, bounding eight or ten feet,
then striking and sliding forty or hfty
feet. They came aboard the yacht, strik-
ing the sails and sliding upon the deck,
whizzed across like arrows, 90 that the
men lay fiat upon the deck to avoid the
bombardment. The cause of this curl
GUS display was that the fish, being
crowded into small space, had become
demoralized, and took this method Of e.
caping-leaving the water In fear and
terror.
To return to the birds. we find among
them some remarkable flyers under the
I.o fna I'D III vvv haW m
many fish-like characteristics that In the
as part fish and part bird. In point Of
seem to have been modified into fms, 20
less as organs of aerial locomotion and
with fine scale-like feathers. On land
they are obviously of little or no use, ex-
cept to assist the birds to founder along,
but in the water they become at once i'm
portant features and valuable locomotive
organs. Few persons seeing . flock of these
birds in the water for the first time would
consider them - belonging to the feath-
cred tribe. At least two-thirds Of the
time they are under water, reappearing
to dive from wave to wave In 90 dsh- like
Q manner that even the naturalists Of the
Challenger In the South Pacific were
often deceived and considered them
either fishes or porpoises. II watched
beneath the surface, - they have been
in large tanks, the penguins arc seem 70
use their fms very much - hns, propel-
ling themselves along by them with more
or less speed, 70 that they may be said to
literally hy along under water, the mo-
tions Of the wings and feet calling to
mind the fippers Of turtle.
The most interesting, indeed remark